Wild Shape to escape Grapple?

[RandomNPC]

I stand corrected.

 

[arbados]

Hypersmurf, where did you get the description for spell-like ability having NO Components? If that is the case then they could wild shape easily enough, but I figure that they would still be grappled.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Hypersmurf, where did you get the description for spell-like ability having NO Components?

From the Monster Manual - I don't have it in front of me, but the page number is single digits or low teens.

Description of the differences between Su, Sp, and Ex abilities.

-Hyp.

 

[Norfleet]

Wildshaping is not specified to allow you to escape a grapple, and therefore, doing so will not actually break an existing grapple. However, turning into something unpleasant to grapple with may be enough to convince your opponent to voluntarily relinquish his grapple attempt, or perhaps give you the upper hand in an ongoing grapple, perhaps changing it so YOU want to grapple, rather than your opponent, particularly since the natural weapons of an animal form tend to work just fine while grappled.

For those high-end wildshapes, turning into a fire elemental is amusing, too.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Argh... there's an old myth that has something like that...

Some guy goes outside on All Hallow's Eve, and gets taken by the Faeries, and his girlfriend is told she has to catch a Faerie and hang onto it until the sun comes up, and she can't let it go no matter what it turns into...

... or something.

Agh. Why can't I remember it?

-Hyp.

 

[Amal Shukup]

Tamlane

Argh... there's an old myth that has something like that...

You are thinking of Tamlane (or Tam Lin). There are about 100 versions of the thing, including one by Robbie Burns.

The faerie to be captured is Tamlane himself, who has been taken by the Faerie Queen. The heroine (Janet) must pull him from his horse and hold onto him no matter what form he is forced into.

In a version I liked, the last form taken was a flaming sword, which the heroine (Janet) thrusts into a well - breaking the spell and freeing Tamlane...

Man, just broke an almost perfect lurking record...

 

[Hypersmurf]

Re: Tamlane

You are thinking of Tamlane (or Tam Lin).

Oh, good. That was the name running through my head, but adding "Tam" to the search I was running yielded no hits.

Naturally, "Tam Lin" by itself brings up all I could ever want to know.

Gah.

-Hyp.

 

[Grazzt]

Wildshaping is not specified to allow you to escape a grapple, and therefore, doing so will not actually break an existing grapple.

Right. And wild shaping into something Small gives you a -4 penalty on your next grapple check. Not a good idea. Of course, wild shaping into something Large grants a +4 bonus to grapple checks. A better idea.

 

[Darklone]

Wildshaping into a Dire Shark might not help with grappling... BUT...

 

[Mark Chance]

Wildshaping is not specified to allow you to escape a grapple, and therefore, doing so will not actually break an existing grapple.

That's an argument from silence. No valid conclusion can be drawn from an argument from silence. Anyone can just easily use the same sort of "logic" this way:

Wildshaping is not specifically listed as a means to not escape from a grapple; therefore, doing so will actually break an existing grapple.

Common sense, not arguments from silence, is the way to go. If I am grappling with, say, a six-foot-tall human who suddenly transforms into a six-inch-long mouse, there is at least the potential that my grip has been broken.

Also, I'd be seriously freaked out.